Candy Book Review: The Chocolate Guide
Thursday, January 17, 2008 - by Breanna

Categories: Candy, Candy Photos, Chocolate Candy, Gourmet Candy

Chocolate Guide

Total Chocolaholics, such as myself, know that there is no shortage of books about chocolate. I’m pretty much an expert on the history of chocolate, and I’ve pored through dozens of cookbooks detailing how to temper chocolate, cover anything in chocolate, bake with chocolate, and so on. So, it’s a little exciting to come across a book about chocolate that doesn’t explore the same old tired subject matter.

The Chocolate Guide: To Local Chocolatiers, Chocolate Makers, Boutiques, Patisseries & Shops - Western Edition is an eclectic sort of tour through the western part of North America. There are luscious color photos on every page, chronicling the sumptuous sweets to be had from Mexico City to Vancouver. There are a few recipes, sprinkled here and there, and lots of engaging personal essays about peoples’ passions for chocolate, but mostly this is a guide to the varied chocolate shops in the West. (There are plans for Eastern and Midwestern editions in 2008, so nobody gets left out!)

It’s impossible not to be inspired to take a chocolate road trip spanning hundreds of miles and millions of calories. Even the most knowledgeable aficionado will discover rare gems: The Nestle Chocolate Museum in Mexico, the Gigantic Chocolate Fountain at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, a Chocolate Suite at a retreat in British Colombia. You can bring your friends some souvenirs: chocolate perfume, a set of cocoa-hued pearls, even a professional chocolate melting pot. And there are just so many amazing little chocolate shops, it’s a little overwhelming.

The Chocolate Guide is comprehensive, but not all-encompassing. Not that it claims to be. Some entries are nothing but photos - if you want to buy chocolates from Marceline’s in Disneyland, you’re on your own, because there’s no phone number, web address, or anything, just photos of luscious fudge. Other purveyors are just listed in the index, which is unfortunately put together in a way that I can’t make sense of.

OK, so I would have liked to see an alphabetical index, but that’s a teeny little flaw in what’s otherwise a very neat little book. Pick one of these up for the chocolate lover in your life - pronto.